Post by Aggie E on Sept 22, 2006 12:48:42 GMT -5
www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060922/SPORTS/609220322/1006
Article published Sep 22, 2006
Fobbs knows all about Lafayette area
Dan McDOnald
dmcdonad@theadvertiser.com
North Carolina A&T plays its official homecoming game on Oct. 21, and the Aggies will have a lot of chances to improve on their 0-2 start between now and then.
Saturday's game against UL's Ragin' Cajuns shouldn't be one of those chances, but homecoming for the Aggies' head man starts today when A&T touches down at Lafayette Regional Airport.
Lee Fobbs knows that airport. He probably knows every airport, every highway and every back road in Louisiana.
"It's home for me," Fobbs said this week. "It'll always be home. My profession has taken me a few places and I've enjoyed every moment and I continue to enjoy it. But it's a pleasure to come back home."
Fobbs coached in Louisiana for two decades, on both the prep and collegiate levels, before leaving LSU for a job at Southern Mississippi in 1995.
He's since been on staffs at Minnesota, Baylor, Alabama and Texas A&M before finally getting a college head coaching opportunity last December when A&T came calling.
Fobbs was the running backs coach at A&M, a place where traditions run deeper than just about anywhere in college athletics. The Cajuns saw up close and personal - try 51-7 and five rushing scores - what kind of athletes Fobbs was mentoring in College Station.
He's watched the video of the UL-A&M game more times than he can count, mostly for scouting purposes. But more than once he caught himself eye-balling his former Aggies.
"It was different," he said. "I could sit there and point out each player by name. Those were some great times.
"I had a great situation at Texas A&M, being with Dennis (A&M head coach Dennis Franchione) and coming with him from Alabama. But I always had some goals and ambitions to do some things in this profession, while I had fresh legs (he turned 56 last July). The opportunity came, I looked at it, surveyed it for a long time, and the more I looked the more intriguing it was.
"I've always told by sons that if you're going to be in this profession, don't go halfway."
Ah, the sons. Jamaal is the quarterback coach for A&T and was born in Monroe while his father was coaching at Wossman High. Older brother Broderick, two years a Cajun graduate assistant, is the wide receivers coach at Northwestern State, adding to those Louisiana roots.
Except for that one-year far-flung assignment in Minnesota, he's never lived much more than a half-day's drive from his Monroe birthplace. And he always wound up spending time back in the state, beating the recruiting trails that were so familiar.
"I pretty much had Louisiana everywhere I've ever been," he said. "For a while at Alabama, we broke the state up so we could cover it better, but the guys working the other parts would always come back to me asking questions about coaches, places. Finally, Dennis just said why don't you take the whole thing again."
Fobbs recruited a handful of players on this year's Cajun squad, including UL quarterback Jerry Babb while still at 'Bama. "I remembered him from high school," he said. "I remember how much it looked like he understood the game, and that's even more obvious now. The coaches there (at UL) have done a great job with him and with their scheme and what they're trying to accomplish. We've got to match everything they throw at us."
That won't be easy. The I-AA Aggies have played only one other I-A team in their history, and Fobbs' first A&T team is in a building mode. Only one offensive starter and five regulars overall are back from a 3-8 team, and the roster includes 34 new faces including 26 freshmen.
That youth has been exposed in two early losses, and Fobbs would probably like to be carrying a bigger stick into his return to the state. But he knew this year's toll might be high.
"I'm encouraged and pleased with the progress of our kids," he said. "They're continuing to grow and learn. We're young, but we're competitive and that's all you can ask."
Article published Sep 22, 2006
Fobbs knows all about Lafayette area
Dan McDOnald
dmcdonad@theadvertiser.com
North Carolina A&T plays its official homecoming game on Oct. 21, and the Aggies will have a lot of chances to improve on their 0-2 start between now and then.
Saturday's game against UL's Ragin' Cajuns shouldn't be one of those chances, but homecoming for the Aggies' head man starts today when A&T touches down at Lafayette Regional Airport.
Lee Fobbs knows that airport. He probably knows every airport, every highway and every back road in Louisiana.
"It's home for me," Fobbs said this week. "It'll always be home. My profession has taken me a few places and I've enjoyed every moment and I continue to enjoy it. But it's a pleasure to come back home."
Fobbs coached in Louisiana for two decades, on both the prep and collegiate levels, before leaving LSU for a job at Southern Mississippi in 1995.
He's since been on staffs at Minnesota, Baylor, Alabama and Texas A&M before finally getting a college head coaching opportunity last December when A&T came calling.
Fobbs was the running backs coach at A&M, a place where traditions run deeper than just about anywhere in college athletics. The Cajuns saw up close and personal - try 51-7 and five rushing scores - what kind of athletes Fobbs was mentoring in College Station.
He's watched the video of the UL-A&M game more times than he can count, mostly for scouting purposes. But more than once he caught himself eye-balling his former Aggies.
"It was different," he said. "I could sit there and point out each player by name. Those were some great times.
"I had a great situation at Texas A&M, being with Dennis (A&M head coach Dennis Franchione) and coming with him from Alabama. But I always had some goals and ambitions to do some things in this profession, while I had fresh legs (he turned 56 last July). The opportunity came, I looked at it, surveyed it for a long time, and the more I looked the more intriguing it was.
"I've always told by sons that if you're going to be in this profession, don't go halfway."
Ah, the sons. Jamaal is the quarterback coach for A&T and was born in Monroe while his father was coaching at Wossman High. Older brother Broderick, two years a Cajun graduate assistant, is the wide receivers coach at Northwestern State, adding to those Louisiana roots.
Except for that one-year far-flung assignment in Minnesota, he's never lived much more than a half-day's drive from his Monroe birthplace. And he always wound up spending time back in the state, beating the recruiting trails that were so familiar.
"I pretty much had Louisiana everywhere I've ever been," he said. "For a while at Alabama, we broke the state up so we could cover it better, but the guys working the other parts would always come back to me asking questions about coaches, places. Finally, Dennis just said why don't you take the whole thing again."
Fobbs recruited a handful of players on this year's Cajun squad, including UL quarterback Jerry Babb while still at 'Bama. "I remembered him from high school," he said. "I remember how much it looked like he understood the game, and that's even more obvious now. The coaches there (at UL) have done a great job with him and with their scheme and what they're trying to accomplish. We've got to match everything they throw at us."
That won't be easy. The I-AA Aggies have played only one other I-A team in their history, and Fobbs' first A&T team is in a building mode. Only one offensive starter and five regulars overall are back from a 3-8 team, and the roster includes 34 new faces including 26 freshmen.
That youth has been exposed in two early losses, and Fobbs would probably like to be carrying a bigger stick into his return to the state. But he knew this year's toll might be high.
"I'm encouraged and pleased with the progress of our kids," he said. "They're continuing to grow and learn. We're young, but we're competitive and that's all you can ask."